alright lemme clarify this, I didn't mean to downplay other career paths:
As a musician in music school, I go to school at 8:30 for my first class, and between classes, lessons, practicing, and rehersals, I don't get back until 11 pm or so (assuming I don't have tendonitis, once that set in i couldn't). That was an average weekday, completely unexaggerated. Of course I take breaks for meals, so lets subtract an hour and a half or so from that. I had trouble doing homework before I had tendonitis. Any less than that and I'd fall behind. I didn't have any sort of job during this time. This is not exaggerated.
Now lets compare that to my friend who is going to be going into Pharmecuticals. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't have an easy time going through college, and there were points where he almost couldn't make it. Not to mention that in order to get his degree, he has to do like 8 years or something ridiculous. However, he's going to get out of school to a nice job that will take care of all of his expenses for the rest of his life. The point that I was trying to make, is that even though I think music is totally worth it for me, to take that MEAGER amount of money that we have waiting for us IF we get a job and tell us that because we enjoy music we shouldn't get it is unbelievably frustrating for me.
The reason I said that about joe smith and etc was to reflect on something that my teacher reminds us all the time--and that is if you're not 100% sure that being a musician is your destiny, than don't do it. It would be a completely irrational decision because there are so many other people in the field, climbing to higher and higher levels and fighting for jobs that don't pay nearly as much as being, like, a lawyer, engineer, etc. Go be a lawyer instead: putting in less work in that field will still give you more money. Putting in the same amount of work in that field will get you tons more money.
So yeah, of course everyone should be working hard. I'm talking about salary, not work ethic. Didn't mean to downplay those who do, I'm on your side